Bloggy Stuff.

Yes, my desk is always that messy (usually messier, actually) and yes, my entire back is tattooed.

Just fielding a few blogging questions that have come my way over the last week:

Q: Why am I not getting my Li’l Magoolie email updates anymore?
A: I’m sorry! As you may have noticed, a few changes have happened on the blog recently. What you may not have realised is that I no longer use the free WordPress.com blogging site. This means that I have had to start again from scratch (or rather my very talented and patient programmer, Gav has) and put everything in that I need. Unfortunately, these things take time and money so some things are here and others are not. It’s a work in progress and I hope to have it all working at 100% very soon. I’ll let you know once email subscriptions are back and you can get your dose of colour and crazy in your inbox every day!

Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to start their own blog regarding referencing sources?
A: My rule of thumb is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If I spent a lot of time creating a tutorial, I wouldn’t want someone putting the entire tutorial up on their site (especially without a link back) so I show enough to give the reader the idea about the project and a link for them to go to the original source. But then, this site isn’t really a ‘destination site’. I want to help people find cool things around the internet so I’m basically just waving them on to the source site so they can read it for themselves. Basically anything you can credit is ace. Images, words, you name it – link back to the source at all times. Of course there is always more you can do. Ultimately it would be great if you could contact the person before featuring their content but in this fast-paced internet environment, it’s not always possible. Just be respectful of someone else’s work is all I’d say. And then read this post by Design Sponge and scroll down to CREDITING which pretty much covers everything regarding linking etiquette.

P.S My biggest blogging tip: Get a whiteboard! Totally the best thing you can do for your blog.

Q: How do I send you information about my product/store?
A: You can send me a holler on Facebook (but please don’t advertise your products on my wall) and I’ll have a look at your store before I become a fan or you can email me. If you email about your store or product, stick with the KISS method – short and sweet is key in an inbox which is already overflowing. Tell me who you are, where in the world you are located, give me a sense of your product (if it’s similar to something else out there, what makes yours different?) and please don’t attach large images. If I can’t see it well enough on your website, I will reply back with a request for higher resolution images.

Things that get you noticed:
• Spelling my name right (or even knowing my name – note: it’s not Lil!) or knowing information about my blog – I am often stopped in my tracks if I feel the author has been following my blog for a while and knows what I like to feature, where I’m located in the world and what the blog is all about. Getting personal totally works.
• Featuring a store/product that appeals to my readers. There are many sites featuring children’s fashion so I tend to steer clear of it in my posts. Have a scroll through previous posts to get a feel for whether my site is the right one to feature your store/product.
• Keeping it brief. I don’t have a lot of time to read through emails so I really appreciate short messages with a weblink.
• Adding me to your newsletter subscription list is totally cool. I can always opt out if it’s not the sort of product I feature. Just please don’t send me an update every single week. Fortnightly or monthly works best. If I’m shown the same thing over and over again, I tend to opt out of receiving your newsletter.

Please keep in mind that unlike a press release to PR companies, bloggers appreciate the personal touch. I’m happy to read about the fact that you’re a one woman show with 3 kids and a dog. In fact, that’s a big part of why I feature businesses – I really want to help promote those family-run small businesses out there who can’t afford to advertise in big name magazines and newspapers.

Q: Can I vote for you as Best Blog in the New Zealand NetGuide Awards?
A: Why yes! Thankyou for asking! I’d really love it if you voted for me in these awards. You don’t even have to sign in – just click on ‘Need Inspiration’ under the BEST BLOG heading and you can vote for me. One vote is all I need from you and this year I plan to oust all those newspaper fatcats who stole the show last year!! (jealous much?)

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